Character Clues

Character Analysis

Actions

In Touching Spirit Bear, paying lip service isn't enough—it's easy to see who the real good guys are through their actions. Cole's father may say that he's a devoted parent, but his abusive behavior says otherwise. On the flip side, even though Garvey may not be super affectionate toward Cole, his actions show he cares about the boy and wants him to do well. He constantly puts himself on the line to get Cole another chance. Finally, Cole is only able to show how sorry he is for hurting Peter through actions…even if that means he has to sleep in a leaky tent for days in order to prove that he won't hurt Peter.

Family Life

Family life plays a big part in whether people are decent or not in Touching Spirit Bear. Even though Cole's parents look successful to most outsiders, their treatment of him shows that they're not the best parents—heck, his dad's a straight-up abusive jerk. And because they're such sub-par parents, Cole is pretty sub-par himself when we meet him: angry and violent and unrepentant about taking his pain out on Peter.

Conversely, even though Peter's parents are kind of mean to Cole, their protectiveness of their son shows that they really do care about him and are loving parents. Peter might struggle for much of the book, but with so much love flowing in his direction, we keep our fingers cautiously crossed that he'll find his way. After all, he definitely stands a fighting chance with two people fighting for him in his corner.